[Ammi]

Police have revealed more details about the way in which they handled a domestic abuse allegation made by murder victim Harshita Brella...

Northamptonshire Police have faced significant criticism from the public since this newspaper revealed on Sunday that Harshita Brella had been the subject of a domestic violence protection order before her death.

Yesterday MP Angela Rayner said at Prime Minister’s Questions that she ‘should have been protected’

One Tuesday Harshita’s own Delhi-based family told The Guardian they felt she had not been protected.

Now the force has spoken publicly for the first time about the way in which it tried to help Harshita before she died.

Officers said she made a complaint to police on August 29, six days before Northampton Magistrates’ Court made the order.

They also said they placed her in a refuge. It is not known how long she stayed in the refuge. The house in which Harshita was staying in Skegness Walk when she died was only a minute’s walk from the home of her husband, Pankaj Lamba.

They said that she was classed as a ‘high risk’ victim and was visited several times by officers.

Tonight, (Thursday, November 21) police said that they had carried out a review of their own handling of the case since her death.

Assistant Chief Constable Emma James said: “Following Harshita’s death, Northamptonshire Police reviewed the Force’s handling of an investigation which was launched following a domestic abuse allegation by Harshita Brella on August 29. The investigation was owned by a specialist detective from within the Domestic Abuse Investigation Team.

“Harshita was identified as being at high risk of domestic abuse and was immediately assigned an Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA). A referral was also made to the MARAC (Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference), sharing information with partners and collectively formulating a safety plan. Harshita was placed in a refuge and visited and contacted by officers on a number of occasions throughout the investigation.

“The alleged perpetrator was identified, quickly arrested and bailed with conditions.

“Northamptonshire Police actively sought and obtained a Domestic Violence Protection Notice (DVPN) and a Domestic Violence Protection Order was authorised at Northampton Magistrates Court on September 5 which remained in place for 28 days whilst the investigations continued against the alleged perpetrator.

“This case has been referred for a Domestic Homicide Review which will seek to identify any learning.”

Earlier this week our reporter spoke to someone who had come into contact with Harshita in the weeks before her death.

He told our reporter that ‘she would never’ have chosen to live in the place she had been staying in Skegness Walk.

"The people in there were not good people,” he said.

“They would not support her.

"She didn’t ask me for help. I wish she had asked. There would have been lots of help available to her here. There is a big Indian community and anyone would have taken her in.”

Another man, shopkeeper at Lincoln Stores Popet Khunti, said that he had seen Harshita in the shop several times.

"She came in on her own. We didn’t really see him. She never spoke.

"It’s really sad that nobody knew what she was going through all alone. Maybe she didn’t speak good English so she couldn’t say anything to us.”


https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk...-death-4878215